MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A report says an accident in which an avalanche carried three climbers down New Hampshire's Mount Washington in January could have been avoided.

A dozen people had been climbing on Jan. 17 when an avalanche was triggered. Three men, including retired Marine Sgt. Keith Zeier, who lost a leg in a bombing in Iraq, were swept about 800 feet downhill.

WMUR-TV reports (http://bit.ly/ZdSqUC) that analysts from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center said the group had been warned that the avalanche risk had increased to moderate and continued to climb into worsening conditions. And they said the goal of the climb — to raise money and awareness for families of special-operations forces killed or wounded in action — may have been a factor in the accident.